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So much better thanme.

“Fine,” I said. “But what about my car?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’ll make sure we get it to you by morning.”

“Dorian …”

“Mercy, get in the damn car.” A smile edged his lips. “I mean,pleaseget in the damn car.”

He held out his hand for me to take, walked me to the passenger side, and gestured for me to get in.

Yeah, it was late, and I was too exhausted to fight over it.

After climbing into Dorian’s car and a few minutes on the road with neither of us speaking, I broke the silence.

“Okay. I feel something.” The words slipped out, and even though I should have stopped them, I didn’t regret that confession. “I don’t understand it, but I feel something.”

Dorian didn’t turn to me, but there was a ghost of a smile flitting across his lips.

“I don’t regret the spell I did a year ago, Dorian,” I added, “But I don’t regret last night either.”

A huge grin pulled at his lips, but his smile faded into a concerned, straight line. “Mercy, look.”

I turned straight ahead and saw someone lying in the middle of the road. “Dorian, stop the car.”

Dorian slowed to a stop just in time to see a redheaded woman lying flat on her stomach. It looked like she was unconscious, but I couldn’t tell if she was breathing. Dorian grabbed my arm when I tried to exit. “Don’t get out.”

He quickly locked the doors just as a fist broke through the window next to me. Strong hands gripped my shirt, yanking me out of the car, shards of broken glass slicing my arm on the way. I tried to plant my feet on the ground and use my powers, but the stranger quickly pressed their palms against my temples. I couldn’t see who it was. It was dark, there were no streetlights, and their hold kept my head steady. I heard Dorian’s voice scream for me in the distance, but all I could focus on was the searing, blinding pain that ripped through my skull, rendering me immobile.

Oh, the fucking pain!

My thoughts mangled, my mind blanked out, and then … nothing.

_______________

“OH, THANK GOD,Mercy. You’re awake,” I heard a man say before kneeling next to the couch where I lay motionless. I flinched at his touch on my arm.

The man was beautiful, with kind eyes, but I didn’t recognize him. His skin was smooth and slightly fair, and his eyes were a deep hazel. He grabbed my hand and kissed it gently, his lips creating a ripple of goosebumps along my skin. “I thought I had lost you.”

I yanked my hand back and looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “What happened? Who are you?”

His brows furrowed. “You don’t remember what happened?” he asked. “Mercy, we were attacked tonight.”

Mercy? He kept saying that name, but I didn’t recognize it.

I didn’t remember anything. I was confused about where I was but, most importantly,whoI was. I looked down at my hands, examining my skin, then at my shirt. I knew what things were but not how or why they were.

“Do you know who you are?” he asked me, gently running his hand over my head.

That time, I didn’t move from his touch, only shook my head.

“Your name is Mercy, and we were attacked an hour ago in the middle of the road. It was an ambush. I tried everything possible but couldn’t get to you in time.”

“Attacked?” I asked, but I would have remembered something like that.

“We saw someone lying in the street, and the next instant, someone’s fist broke the window of my car and pulled you out. Another person grabbed me; I was pinned down and couldn’t move. I couldn’t save you. They held your head firmly, and when another car came around the corner, they let you go and took off. They did something to you, and then you passed out.”

My head suddenly started to pound, and I placed my hand on my forehead, shutting my eyes. “What did they do to me?”

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